Blue Jays’ Stroman cools off Correa
TORONTO — Before Saturday’s 7-2 loss to the Blue Jays, the Astros’ All-Star hitters had been prolific.
Since June 21, George Springer had batted .417, Carlos Correa .418 and Jose Altuve .424.
The most distinguishing feature for the trio during this span was Correa’s 15-game hitting streak, longest active streak in the majors.
Then Marcus Stroman proved to have the antidote to suppress Correa’s potency for three plate appearances. Stroman did not strain much. He deployed only two types of pitches — a two-seam fastball that maxed out at 94 mph and a slider.
With two outs in the first inning, Stroman threw five sinking fastballs away that Correa comfortably let go to earn a walk.
In the third, the Astros had taken a 2-0 lead thanks to an RBI-double by Springer and then put a second man on because of a single by Josh Reddick.
With runners on the corners and no outs, Correa stepped in for Stroman’s most threatening jam of the game. Had Correa continued his usual hot streak, the complexion of the game might have changed significantly.
Instead, Correa attacked the first pitch he saw. He lined it toward third at more than 100 mph. Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson leapt for an impressive snare. As evidence of how well Correa struck the ball, Reddick took off for second base on the assumption the ball would be a hit. After Donaldson caught the ball, he pivoted and fired a throw across the diamond to double up Reddick.
The Astros would not have two runners on base in the same inning again. Stroman benefited from the Blue Jays turning four double plays in the first five innings.
Stroman outmatched Correa in the sixth. Correa had only seen fastballs up to that point. Stroman started him off with a slider for a called strike, which set up the rest of the at-bat. Stroman earned a strike on one of the next three fastballs and got Correa to whiff badly on a slider that darted far out of the strike zone.
“He’s got good stuff,” Correa said, with a shrug, after the loss. “When he’s working, he’s going to be good.”
Correa had a final chance to extend his streak against reliever Joe Biagini in the ninth. He saw a good first-pitch — a fastball low but in the middle of the zone — and went for it. He was out in front and topped it for an easy grounder to short.
Future looks bright for younger Gurriel
After signing a seven-year, $22 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., 23, the younger brother of Yulieski by nine years, has struggled to adjust in the minor leagues.
Growing pains and an injury kept Gurriel to a .190 batting average in 16 games for Class A Dunedin.
He drummed up excitement with an RBI double in his debut April 19, but he suffered a hamstring strain in the game, which sidelined him for two months.
Gil Kim, Blue Jays director of player development, said the organization believes Lourdes, a lanky infielder at 6-2, could become a bigger slugger than Yulieski.
“We can see him hitting for power along with average,” Kim said. He has not shown that yet. Yulieski, who is in Toronto for a weekend series against the Blue Jays, said his younger brother is transitioning from facing the breaking ball-heavy repertoires in Cuba to the hard fastball-driven approaches of minor league pitchers.
Lourdes also had missed a year of competition because of his defection from the island and three months of free agency.
“He was one year off baseball, so he’s getting back to it again,” Yulieski said, speaking through Alex Cintron, the Astros’ translator. “He had to start slow, step by step.
“His attitude is positive. He has all the time in the world to get better so … they were taking it really easy with him.”
The same scouts who discovered Vladimir Guerrero for the Expos had connected with Lourdes for the Blue Jays at a workout in Panama.
“His main strength is his hit tool,” Kim said. “He’s got a fluid and easy swing. He’s got good leverage.”
Kim has looked past the numbers to see how Lourdes’ experience and work ethic suggest a successful future.
“It’s easy to want a player like that, when you combine his intangibles and personality with his talent,” Kim said. “You find a driven player, who has high character.
“He’s an engaging personality and he’s very committed. He has a strong work ethic.” Kim offered an anecdote. After Lourdes made a costly error recently, he voluntarily returned early the next day, took a bucket of balls to the infield and threw into a net to refine his accuracy.
“You talk about extreme ownership of your career and practicing with a purpose,” Kim said. “That was very impressive to see.”
Kim particularly likes that Lourdes played on big stages with the Cuban national team and for Industriales, a team for which he and Yulieski starred together.
The Gurriel family is to Cuban baseball what the Mannings are to the NFL in the United States. Lourdes Sr. is one of the most revered players in Cuban history.
Lourdes has to endure the physical workload of his first pro ball season before he can earn a promotion from Class A.
The bonus of Lourdes playing in Florida is that he gets to play in front of the eldest Gurriel brother, Yunieski, his mom and father. After decades in Cuba, the Gurriel family settled in Miami.
“Now that we’re here in the United States it’s really important for us to have family here because we don’t have anybody else,” Yulieski said. Hunter Atkins